This invention is directed toward a vibrating conveyor for aligning food product, and more specifically, a vibrating conveyor that will convey and align food product through vibration at the same time.
Food product, such as sausage links and the like, need to be aligned axially on a flighted conveyor for packaging. To mechanically push a sausage on one end is difficult and must be timed to correspond with each individual flight on the conveyor belt. Also, a mechanical pusher would require adjustment to handle varying lengths of product. Other devices, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,925 by Zanetti and U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,258 by Goodale have used separate containers that travel along an uneven track to align food product. Not only are these devices complex, with many moving parts, but they also are not capable of use with a conventional flighted belt. Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a conveyor that addresses these needs.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a conveyor that will convey and vibrate food product simultaneously.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a vibrating conveyor having fewer moving parts.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a vibrating conveyor that utilizes a conventional flighted belt.
These and other objectives will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art based upon the following written description, drawings and claims.